It’s safe to say that microSD media is the smallest physical device which holds the most memory. Just look around your house or office and think of all the things you could stuff a microSD card into. Here we have a microSD card playing hide-and-seek inside a nickle.
Sure there is no technological advancement within this post, but it does remind you of the possibilities.
For the DIY folks out there, save yourself a boat load of money getting the right gear to slice a nickle and pony up the $30 to get the pre-fab’d microSD card inside a nickle at Spy-Coins.com.
Source:Â The Gadgeteer.
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These cards could help to make a particular handset or plan more attractive to a subscriber by offering songs, movies, maps for GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation or applications. However, locking the card will ensure consumers couldn’t use the content elsewhere.SanDisk reports the data lock portion could be updated remotely via IP protocols which means a vendor could update music lists, content and video depending on the subscribers requirements, needs or membership. Some critics believe this technology is coming at a bad time, since users enjoy cross platform sharing for their music, along with Apples move towards less DRM on their music. However, what these critics don’t see is the need to protect other types of intellectual property. Although music and video is the big numbers, mainstream target market, there is an infinite need in the pro-sumer and corporate world for data lock and protection. Continue Reading
SanDisk is all about SlotMusic these days. SlotMusic is the concept of pre-loaded microSD cards where your music can be played on MP3 players, mobile phones, and PDAs. The idea is complete interoperability and mobility with SlotMusic.
To soften the blow and increase adoption of the SlotMusic concept, SanDisk is offering a very inexpensive MP3 player at just $19.99. The SlotMusic player may also be purchased with pre-loaded microSD cards for a total price of $39.99. This price point gives it a significant advantage over the iPod Shuffle, since you get both the device and music for about the same cost as just the Shuffle hardware.
SanDisk also put together a demo presentation about the SlotMusic concept, which is worth checking out through the links below.
Now that we see music making the shift to pre-loaded microSD cards, the concept of a microSD duplicator makes much more sense, doesn’t it?
With the backing of SanDisk—one of the largest flash memory retailers in the world—they have the channel and connections to make SlotMusic a success. It will be interesting to see which artists adopt the idea and explore digital distribution of music via microSD cards.
Avi Cohen of Avian Securities said it was an “unlikely prospect” due to SanDisk being unwilling to sell at the bottom of the cycle, and Samsung becoming a direct competitor to many of its customers and regulatory concerns. “Regulators in the US, Korea and Europe among others will likely have issue with one player controlling north of 50 per cent of NAND [Flash memory] supply,” he said.Another option is Samsung reducing it’s royalty license to SanDisk to gain synergy with the top seller, reduce SanDisk’s bottom line and secure channel distribution of flash memory.
However if a deal goes ahead, it could block efforts by Samsung rivals Toshiba and Hynix Semiconductor to topple Samsung’s market leadership. Toshiba runs joint production lines with SanDisk and Hynix is also conducting joint re-search with the US group. Samsung controls 42.3 per cent of the NAND flash memory market, trailed by Toshiba with 27.5 per cent and Hynix with 13.4 per cent, says market researcher iSuppli.Source:Â Financial Times. Continue Reading
Did you know that SD (Secure Digital) memory cards should use a specific type of formatting software? I didn’t. I’ve been using the typical Windows formatting utility for years now – never seen a problem. However, I found out today that Panasonic has such a software utility. A utility that complies with the SD Memory Card Specification.
The SD formatting software is specifically design for this media type and should not be used with other media types such as Compact Flash, USB or Memory Stick.
However, the SD formatting software is ideal for SD, SDHC and all the sub sizes including miniSD and microSD.
It is difficult to determine exactly what the difference is from the Panasonic website but from our investigation it appears you get two benefits. 1) the card size is formatted correctly to maximize size. The Windows version will make your card slightly smaller and 2) with optimized format the flash memory will perform slightly better.
Of the two benefits, it’s difficult to determine how much of a difference a user would really see. Marginal at best. However, if you are anything like me, grab the utility package and give her a try.
Panasonic’s webpage for SD Memory Card Formatting Utility.
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